Take It Or Leave It
by oneandthesame123
Summary: someone gives everything up after one mistake


FLASHBACK TO THE KID'S BIRTH'S There she was, wrapped in her pink blanket and hat, cuddling up against new mother, Debra after a hard labor. She looked so peaceful and Debra looked so happy. I was finally able to hold her for the first time a couple minutes later. The nurse passes Ally to me gently and it felt weightless against my arms. I couldn't help but have the one full- of- emotion tear run down my cheek as she looked into my eyes for the first time. Her big blue eyes just captivated me along with her beautiful smile. A couple years later, we welcomed twins Michael and Geoffery into the world. I had that same feeling looking into their eyes and Ally was excited to have two new play pals. We had our hands full with three and that's all we needed to be a family.  
FLASHFORWARD TO PRESENT DAY A lot has changed in 18 years to tell you the truth. Ally has had one huge trial to overcome with her best friend Sarah's tragic passing after being rammed by a drunk driver and killed almost instantly. Ally has nightmares because she witnessed it. She was too afraid to walk over to the two sandwiched cars to see if there were any survivors. She arrived home and told both Debra and I what she had just witnessed. The following morning, the accident was reported on every news channel and the name of the drivers killed were revealed, one being the drunk driver, and the last, Ally's best friend. Ally has blamed herself for the passing because she never went to see of any survivors after the crash. Her nightmares have partially subsided and she is currently working on not letting the devastation take over her progress of healing in her weekly therapy sessions. Ally has remained hard at work getting ready for college and doing what she loves, raising money for families to keep their own kids safe behind the wheel. Her week days consist of meetings with mayors and house representatives about ways to make sure nobody can turn the key in the car if they are even the slightest intoxicated. Her weekends consist of daily interviews and performances around our area at high schools and anywhere else when possible. Debra and I help out as well with raising money because even though Ally has been driving for three years now, we still have Michael and Geoffery starting to drive. Ever since the start of Ally's numerous campaigns two years ago, she has been able to raise over two hundred thousand dollars. I can not express how happy I am to say that Ally is my daughter. Her hard work and dedication to this campaign is amazing. Ally is well on her way to college with a full time scholarship in the fall at Harvard University, which was her choice school because it is close to us and on her holiday breaks, she can continue to work on the campaign. Ally will be working on becoming a correction officer for drunk drivers and a counselor for grieving families of lost ones to drunk drivers. Onto the twins. Michael and Geoffery are 16 and sophmores in high school. They too are dedicated to computer and gaming technology and are taking classes that have college credits and are working towards jobs during school at a computer school, learning how to put computers and all those gadgets into working use. They are at the top of their class and might even graduate high school their junior year, depending on circumstances and our financial situation when the time comes. The boys love what they are doing and hope that they can someday partner with Ally in creating a device that stops a person from unlocking their car from the outside if they are intoxicated. The boys are searching for colleges to attend as well and also think that staying close to home and attending Harvard is the best choice. The boys have received million dollar scholarships to all these top colleges and turned them down. Harvard gave each of them a million dollar scholarship and wants them to partner with some of the most respected computer engineers in the world to create devices that could someday detect cancer and other deadly diseases before it spreads. Debra is back to working in Public Relations. I can't really elaborate on this subject because I don't really know what happens. I think she does interviews and finds ways to change parts of the country and makes speeches to big government agencies about new things. She is more beautiful today than ever before. I love her to pieces and we are like one tight unit. With the kids out of the house all the time, we have more time to do what we want and do it together. It's amazing that we have been married for 20 some years now and we love each other more every day. Sure we have the occassional pointless argument, but we get over it much quicker now. Robert is head over heels in love with Amy. Their ten year old daughter Grace Marie is blooming and becoming very sociable and out of her shell. Amy is working with Debra in Public Relations as well. But her ultimate passion is working with Child Protective Services to make sure that all children have a place to stay and be out of harms way, even if it's temporary or whatever the situation. She absolutely loves it. Robert is still working on the force and is working his way up to Chief officer. Of course he still has his perks, if you were wondering. My parents are still the arguing couple of the century. But they have made a committment of marriage therapy to learn how to work on their problems more calmly. My mom still adores me and respects Debra a lot more. She has even started mentioning Robert more. My dad still unbuttons his pants during the viewing of a sport event on our TV and is more stubbron than ever, but I love both of them. As for me, Raymond Barone, I still write my weekly columns and have a passion for the football games. I take less long trips and help out here and there around the house. I'm done with my midlife crisis, whatever it was, it's gone now. I still make time for golf with my friends and poker is definately never missed. I run errunds with Debra and I love life. I love Debra to pieces. We make ourselves available more often and I send her a bouquett of roses if I am away for long vacations unexpectedly. I make myself dedicated enough to keep myself out of trouble. I make generous donations to Ally's campaign and to any neighboring charities every month because that's just how I am.

You may be wondering why I made the introduction as long as I did. After this big party, Ally does something that she never dreamed of doing. You will have to continue reading to find out what happens.

It was Friday night and my parents decided to go away for the weekend. Even though Michael, Geoffery, and I remained dedicated to our studies, that didn't mean we didn't love to party. So anyway, we put our brains together and planned a big party for Saturday night. Our grandparents and uncle were leaving for a spa weekend as well. Step one: family gone. Complete. Step two: party guests. Complete. Step three: PARTY! complete. The party was wild and out of control. There were beers and cigarettes all over. People were so drunk and passing out all over the floor. I think I even remember seeing my brothers having a great time. As for me, I was wild. I drank so much that I almost passed out. I think I even made out with a couple of guys, a variety of ages. It is 4 AM Sunday morning and the party guests are leaving. Two hours later the boys and I hear ringing from the phone. I answer it and it's my dad. They were two hours from arriving home. The boys and I looked around the house, well, what was left of the house. There were beer cans all over and food on the carpets and anything else possible on the floor. The house smelled like cigarettes and beer. I was too sick to drive to the store to pick up air freshener. I had to substitute. All the sudden, my grandparents and uncle pull into their driveway. They start heading our way. We picked up as much as possible and sprayed whatever we could find. It was too late. My grandparents walked in and their jaws dropped immediately. " What happened here?," Marie, my grandma, asked. " We had a big trash explosion this morning," I answered. " Why are there beer cans and why does it smell like beer and cigarettes?," my uncle Robert asked, adding " the truth." Great. The party was amazing and now I could be cuffed and put in jail for drinking under age. " We had a party last night and it got out of control. We never meant for this much to happen. All we wanted was a couple of people and all the sudden, there were people coming in and we didn't even know who they were. They brought their own cigarettes and beer too," I said. " Were you all drinking and smoking along with everyone else?," Robert asked. " Yes." I paused. My grandparents gasped. " Alright. Get this cleaned up. I'm gonna have to write this up because of drinking under age. Ally, you will be the one charged, along with the boys, depending on if the judge is going to charge them as adults," Robert said. " Mom and dad will be home in two hours," I said. We continued picking up and got the house back to the way it was. An hour later, our parents pulled into the garage, not fully prepared for what was about to happen. As they open the door, two policemen busted open the front door and arrested me, right in front of my parents. " Woah woah woah. What's goin' on here officers?," my dad asked. " Your kids, but mostly your daughter, threw an out of control, under age smoking and beer filled party til 4 AM this morning and we were told that your daughter was the mastermind behind it. We have to arrest her," said the officer. " Is that true Ally? Were you the one who threw the party?," my dad asked while becoming angry. "Yes dad, I was. The boys had nothing to do with it. I was the mastermind behind all of it," I said trying to defend my brothers. I was escorted away to the jail where I endured several hours of questioning from different people. The most shocking and terrifying interviewer was the scholarship counselor representing my brothers and I during our college years. " At Harvard University, we have a very high respect towards our students when they make a mistake because we give our scholars second chances to do it over again Ms. Barone, but frankly, this was far from a mistake. Do you understand that? This party was definately intended and the beer and cigarettes were also intended. We have a strict no tolerance rule for such behavior. You could be subject to explusion and possibly lose all your money towards the scholarship for not just you, but you brothers as well. Is that clear?," she asked. Each question made me extremely nervous and unwilling to answer." Yes ma'am," I said shakingly. I couldn't believe how out of hand the party got. It was crazy fun but if I loose the scholarship, it will be on my permanent record that I was arrested for under age drinking and I didn't want to take that risk. " The scholarship advisors and I will be debating whether or not we will give you a second chance. As for your brothers, they still have to prove that they are worthy of becoming a student at Harvard. They have two years to convince us. Good day Ms. Barone," as she stormed out, angrily I must add. The next interviewers, to my amusement were my parents. I can not express in words how happy I was to see them, even though it had only been four hours. " Alright Ally. What happened Saturday night into early this morning?" my mom asked. I was confused. Not stupid confused but hungover confused. " What was the question?" I questioned blankly. " What happened Saturday night into early this morning?" she repeated. " Um.. I'm not sure honestly. It's all kinda like a blur now. All I remember is getting SUPER drunk. That's it. I don't even think the boys were around. They left at some point I think. Oh my gosh, what have I done?' I started freaking out royaly. I had a panic attack. 'I can't believe this. Why did I do this? I'm gonna lose everything I've worked so hard for." I was babbling on for a good five minutes before my parents jumped in to stop me. " Ally you need to calm down. I think you have come to the reality of the situation and what's at stake here for you and your future. Sure you might have to forcefully give your scholarship up and risk your chances of ever getting into Harvard, but, you can always go to another school and try again in the future. You can always try again. It might be extremely hard to build trust with college advisors and what not but it will happen someday. I promise," my dad said. Oddly enough, what my dad said did NOT help at all. I still had to face reality of what I was responsible for in the first place. Just then, my Uncle Robert showed up to interrogate me for the last time today. " Alright. I'm not your uncle, I'm your officer. What were you thinking having a party without parental consent Ally? You know that if something bad were to happen, you would be too drunk to realize it until one of us came to your rescue? I mean seriously, did you really think you would be able to get away with this type of behavior? Let me tell you what is now at stake, young lady. The scholarship, the campaign, the trust, the respect, and the person. You have no idea how angry I am at you. I never expected this from you. Your brothers, parents, grandparents, and I are never going to be able to trust you alone in the house ever again. God, you can't even imagine how mad I am. What do you have to say for yourself?" he yelled. I was trying to gather something that doesn't sound like a hangover-ish type of answer, but it was really hard. Especially when your parents don't believe you anymore. "I'm sorry. I never meant for it to get out of hang like it did. It was only supposed to be me and a couple of my friends.. that's all. I'm guessing that through the course of twenty four hours, word spread and I was too drunk to realize how many people were actually around. It was never meant to be as wild as it turned out. I know you don't believe me but it's the truth. I had a great time but this is definately the worst feeling ever. I'm happy I had the party, but I'm not happy about this. That's what I can say right now." Two weeks went by and my parents were not talking to me at all. Michael and Geoffery were angry at me, along with my grandparents and uncle. It's not a great feeling to have everyone hate you at the same time. Another two weeks went by and we received a call from Harvard to report to a meeting to discover our fate at the school in the future. The whole entire family showed up, surprisingly, since they weren't speaking to me. " We have discussed vigorously about our decision to expell you all from everything Harvard related. We have discussed giving you all a second chance, since you have each contributed to the community little by little through your constant charity work and through the campaign as well. We have discussed suspending you all for the first semester of classes. We have come up with the decision."  
I can't believe that after all the good years, my children were about to loose everything. I couldn't let that happen. Ally interrupted the advisor and made an opening statement kind of speech. " My brothers and I are dedicated to our studies, seriously. We... I really messed up. I'm a lot older and somewhat more responsible than them. It's not fair that many other scholars probably did something like this and got their second chance. Why shouldn't they? My brothers are super smart and willing to work themselves insane to find something to invent or whatever. I know that while we are all suffering from this, one way or another, that my brothers deserve everything life has to offer them. I love them to pieces and just because I made a mistake, doesn't mean that it's fair to punish them. That is why I am requesting to be removed from the scholarship program at Harvard. I can find myself something else to do while I am waiting for my career opportunity to come around. I will donate my scholarship money to my campaign and be working on that instead. I'm sorry to waste your time but, I really don't feel that being tied up is the best option for my life to offer me. It's better to be set free and explore my options. Thank you." I could not believe that my daughter just gave up everything for her brothers... or so I thought. " We want to be removed as well," stated the boys. Ally has the look of disbelief on her face. " What are you two doing? You're giving up everything for something I did." They said " if it was you who really did what you 'say' you did, then we believe you. But we don't want to shine over you if when we graduate from college, we get our dream jobs and you're not able to." I couldn't believe Ally's facial expression. " I don't want you to give it up at all. Don't worry about me." I said. " EXCUSE ME BARONES!" yelled the supervisor. " I don't care if you were quitting on us or not. This was definately the most disrespectful and disappointing time to start getting all sibling like when you're all in a heap of trouble. I will NOT stand for it!" Suddenly, it occurred that something was fishy with the supervisor from the beginning. She always had a hate towards my family before all of this happened. She hated how we made financial planning meetings and all that stuff. She doesn't like working with families, so she tries to tear the siblings of the families apart. My parents always looked at her with weird eyes and I could tell they were digging up something on this lady but not sure what. " Ma'am, if I may, how many siblings have dropped out of this program.. you know, the scholarship money programs? You know that you were trying to tear my family apart. You know for a fact that yes, even though I made a huge mistake, you were always willing to raise the stakes on how we can stay in the program even though this happened. You're not in it for the students. You're in it for the returning money you get when a child comes running back saying that they don't want to be a part of it. I bet that half of the kids that returned money never knew where the money was going to. I know that this line is probably getting old... but I QUIT!" I couldn't tell you what motivation there was behind Ally's speech. It was like a wake up call for me. Debra stood up and escorted the kids out of the room. It looks like our dream of having all our kids get into Harvard were long gone. To tell you the truth, I'm happy because now, they can pursue their dreams and do it with what's left of their pride. When we returned home, the lights were off in the house, which is weird because we always leave the little lamp on the window on. I open the door and the lights come on. "SURPRISE!" yelled the people. In front were my parents and Robert, awaiting their hugs. We ended up celebrating the huge sacrifice made about our kids.

READ AND REVIEW PLEASE. I'M NOT SURE IF I'M GOING TO CONTINUE OR NOT. 


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